Slides for our Design Thinking Presentation at the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers, co-presented with Rachel Shuler of The Meadowbrook School of Weston. The slides walk through a basic design thinking introduction, introduce examples of design thinking projects from our K-8 classrooms, and walk through a curriculum design exercise with teachers.

1. Design Thinking in
the Classroom
Jessica Artiles
@Jess_Artiles
Design Thinking
Integration Strategist
jartiles@mit.edu
Robert Vieth
Edgerton Center
Instructor
rvieth@mit.edu
Rachel Shuler
Meadowbrook School
MS Science Chair
rshuler@meadowbrook-ma.org
Handout & Presentation: http://bit.ly/DTatMAST

2. Our Presentation Today
1. Focus:
○ Who are you? Who are we?
○ What is design thinking?
2. Explore:
○ Dive into Design Thinking Curriculum
3. Reflect:
○ What struck you?
4. Apply
○ Let’s try it out with some IPS curriculum
5. Resource Sharing & Future Work

3. Our Presentation Today
1. Focus:
○ Who are you? Who are we?
○ What is design thinking?
2. Explore:
○ Dive into Design Thinking Curriculum
3. Reflect:
○ What struck you?
4. Apply
○ Let’s try it out with some IPS curriculum
5. Resource Sharing & Future Work

4. What are YOUR NEEDS today?
You are OUR user:
● How do you use design in your
classroom?
● What do you hope to get out out
of our talk today?

5. Design Thinking is...
...a process
...everywhere
...iterative
...user-centered
...empowering
...transformative
...a mindset.

6. YOUaredesignthinkers, naturally
In many ways, you’ve been doing this already!
DT = Ideal Instruction
+ Cross-over of using it in different disciplines,
knowing how to apply it across content areas.

7. Design Thinking is all these...
and more!
DT= Engineering Design Process + empathy and HCD
DT= Problem-Based Learning + versatile learning styles
DT= Project-Based Learning + set within a process
DT= Hands-On Learning + authentic learning
DT= Tinkering + with a process purpose

8. Our Presentation Today
1. Focus:
○ Who are you? Who are we?
○ What is design thinking?
2. Explore:
○ Dive into Design Thinking Curriculum
3. Reflect:
○ What struck you?
4. Apply
○ Let’s try it out with some IPS curriculum
5. Resource Sharing & Future Work

9. Sometimes, you need to go back to the basics:
What do you want to teach and why?

10. How does your curriculum reflect
your goals for qualities and characteristics?

11. How might we collaborate,
across all levels of the school?

12. What projects would get your kids (and you)
excited about learning? Can they be authentic?

13. Brainstorm. Refine. Develop.
Together.

14. The Basics
● Design Challenge
● User-Centered
● Understands inputs
and outputs at each
stage
● Bite-sized but open-
ended
● Authentic
● Flexible
The Awesome

15. 6th Life Science: DT Challenge
DESIGN SOMETHING THAT CREATES
excited learning in JK class about Meadowbrook’s Birds

16. RESEARCH: ornithology INTERVIEW: kindergarteners
DEFINE: kindergarteners’ needs
IMAGINE: design using ornithology to meet needsPROTOTYPE: iterate with critical questions
Our JK buddies need a way to creatively manipulate a
miniature world so as to to understand the real world
they live in.
Our JK buddies need a way to do something
challenging and succeed so as to feel independent like
a competent ‘big kid.’
TRY: revise, try again

17. Our Presentation Today
1. Focus:
○ Who are you? Who are we?
○ What is design thinking?
2. Explore:
○ Dive into Design Thinking Curriculum
3. Reflect:
○ What struck you?
4. Apply
○ Let’s try it out with some IPS curriculum
5. Resource Sharing & Future Work

18. Reflect: What struck you
What struck you most?
What are you most curious
about?
Any big questions?
Share with your neighbor!

19. Our Presentation Today
1. Focus:
○ Who are you? Who are we?
○ What is design thinking?
2. Explore:
○ Dive into Design Thinking Curriculum
3. Reflect:
○ What struck you?
4. Apply
○ Let’s try it out with some IPS curriculum
5. Resource Sharing & Future Work

20. Reimagining a Characteristic Properties of Matter Lab
In this common IPS/APS experiment students will:
● Heat water: record temperature from ice to
gas
● Collect Data in a Table
● Analyze & Graph phase change data
● Discuss boiling point & characteristic
properties of matter
Handout: BP Lab from IPS Lab 3.11

21. Apply! Let’s do it together:
1. Brainstorm: In what contexts or situations does someone encounter boiling point?
a. Might be explicit or implicit.
b. Go for quantity!
c. Narrow it down and pick one context your students could design for.
2. Pick a user and word a design challenge (create the project).
3. Fill in the blanks, imagining what they might go through:
a. What are the users you need to connect with?
b. What content do they need to know?
c. Tools that exist?

22. We Brainstormed

23. We narrowed down

24. We narrowed down and chose
one

25. Apply! Let’s do it together:
1. Brainstorm: In what contexts or situations does someone encounter boiling point?
a. Might be explicit or implicit.
b. Go for quantity!
c. Narrow it down and pick one context your students could design for.
2. Pick a user and a word a design challenge (create the project).
3. Fill in the blanks, imagining what they might go through:
a. What are the users you need to connect with?
b. What content do they need to know?
c. Tools that exist?

26. We came up with our needs statement
A baker opening a new shop
needs to design new bread baking recipes
so as to create more bread options for new customers.

27. Apply! Let’s do it together:
1. Brainstorm: In what contexts or situations does someone encounter boiling point?
a. Might be explicit or implicit.
b. Go for quantity!
c. Narrow it down and pick one context your students could design for.
2. Pick a user and a word a design challenge (create the project).
3. Fill in the blanks, imagining what they might go through:
a. What are the users you need to connect with?
b. What content do they need to know?
c. Tools that exist?

28. RESEARCH: Yeast, flour, etc. INTERVIEW: Baker
DEFINE: Goal of bread for a
type of customer
IMAGINE: How might we design a bread to
evoke our goal?PROTOTYPE: iterate with critical questions
TRY: revise, try again

29. You did it!

30. Our Presentation Today
1. Focus:
○ Who are you? Who are we?
○ What is design thinking?
2. Explore:
○ Dive into Design Thinking Curriculum
3. Reflect:
○ What struck you?
4. Apply
○ Let’s try it out with some IPS curriculum
5. Resource Sharing & Future Work

31. Monday’s (Delicious) Low-hanging fruit
● User-centered: Have the kid work on it for someone else
● Empathy-minded: Engage in understanding others’ perspectives
● Process-oriented: (not about the product)
● Wiggle room: Give them room to fail, and learn from it
● Resiliency: Constructive critiques peer-reviews
● Problem-finders: Critical of the world around them, design is
everywhere!
http://bit.ly/DTatMAST_Handout
http://bit.ly/DTatMAST_Slides
http://bit.ly/DTatMAST

32. Our process includes:
● Teacher Development and Support
○ Professional Development
● Curriculum Development/Integration
○ Consults with in-residence Design Thinker
● Maker spaces with a purpose
○ Training, staffing, and thoughtful use

33. Ask us about...
Ideal Supports?
Innovation Lab?
On-campus resident advisor?
Partnerships?

34. Moving Forward
➔ We are a resource for you!
◆ Documentation:
● http://bit.ly/DTatMAST
● eureka-lab.org/resources/
◆ Potential partnerships
➔ Join us in our assessment
experiment.
◆ Evaluating students from multiple
schools at the end of the year.

35. Design Thinking is...
...a process
...everywhere
...iterative
...user-centered
...empowering
...transformative
...a mindset.
AWAYOFLIFE!
THANK
YOU!

36. Design Thinking in
the Classroom
Jessica Artiles
@Jess_Artiles
Design Thinking
Integration Strategist
jartiles@mit.edu
Robert Vieth
Edgerton Center
Instructor
rvieth@mit.edu
Rachel Shuler
Meadowbrook School
MS Science Chair
rshuler@meadowbrook-ma.org
Handout & Presentation: http://bit.ly/DTatMAST

37. Backupslides

38. “But the content is not there…”
1. It’s always there. You can google it and find it.
2. What we are teaching should change: from content
to skills.
3. (The content we’re teaching is also changing → the
process of design thinking)

39. DesignThinking: Amindsettowards learningin which students addressreal-
worldproblems,drawupona body ofmultidisciplinary knowledgeandskills,
generateinnovativeideas, and create physical prototypestosolveproblems.